(CNN) – The "Dream," the "Legend," the "Triumph," the "Freedom..." All cruise ships with whimsical names turned distressingly ironic after the ships caught fire, clogged up, broke down or even sunk this past year.

Such incidents seem to be happening more frequently in the cruise ship industry. Spencer Aronfeld is a Florida trial lawyer who specializes in cruise ship injury cases:

[1:28] “In handling these kinds of cases for more than 20 years, I have never seen a series of botched cruises like I have in the last year – year and a half.”

But Memorial University of Newfoundland Sociology Professor Ross Klein, who operates the website, CruiseJunkie.com, says it's unclear whether such incidents are actually happening more frequently than in years past:

[2:07] “I'm not sure that I could say that they're more common. Certainly when they occur they're more likely to be reported and make it into the media.”